Brick-handling machine



F. A. SCHROEDER ET AL I BRICKHANDLING MACHINE v Filed April 301, 1920 sAsheet's-seefv 2 s sheets-sheet s www. hh.,

F. AQ scHRoEDR ET AL BRICK HANDLING MACHINE Filed April 50;'1920 noenn'eiooonan ooo ooo

8 Sheets-Sheet F. A. scHRoE'DER E-r AL,

` v BRICK vHANDLING MACHINE,"

F'lled Aprll 30, 1920 and Brooklyn,

Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UITEDSTATES PATENT orrica- FBEDEBICK A. BROOKLYN, NEW YQRK,

scnnomina; or noco'iA, New massif, AND y H niuimAN n. sierra, or Ni'iw Y-omr, AssIeNons rro RAYMOND N. Y., A coRroaArroN or CONCRETE PILE COMPANY, OF

NEW JERSEY.

BRICK-HANDLING MACHINE.

Application led'ilprii 30,- 1920. vSerien No. $7,736.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that we, FREDERICK A. Sciinosonn and HERMAN R. SMITH, citizens of the- United States of' America, residing at, respectively, Bogota, in the county pf Bergen and State of NewJersey, in the Acounty `of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful 'Improvements in Brick- Handling Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In certain machines used in the manufacture of articles such'as bricks, blocks and the like, and more particularly in the manufacture of cementitious products, the articles are formed in a forming machine uponpallets and emerge therefrom `upon a conveyor. Inasmuch as the articles have not attained a permanent -set it is necessary that they be stored for a period of time to enable tlie constituent materials to harden suiciently to permit their removal from the pallets and to permit them to be transported, to the place of use or the storage iard. It has been the practise to place the palletscarrying the uncured articles in a superimposed manner upon racks which are arranged to space the articles apart suiiiciently to permit tree circulation of air. -The problem of handing the product in installations of this-.sort has been one of considerable magnitude.

'While conveyors extending from the brickmaking or forming machine to the racks have been of some assistance their use has not obviatcd the employment of manual labor-for the racking up of the articles upon the superimposed drying racks.

These factors have lar ely detracted from the speed of making bric s and the like, since the speed of the forming machine is directly limited by the ability of the plant and the labor required to handle the product.

One of the objects of the present inven- .tion resides in the provision of an apparatus for handling the uncured bricks 'which will permit the article-forming machine to run .practically continuously and at a comaratively rapid rate of speed.

In the embodiment of the invention herein shown, the articles here s hown as bricks and their supporting pallets emerge from the forming machine onto conveyor rollers both which support the individual pallets while they are being advanced by a continuously moving conveyor vances the pallets one by one to a position over a pair of pallet supporting elements carried by an intermittently ascending eleva-- tor.

in position over these elements, theelevator ascends Athereby .pickingup `the superimposed pallets and bringing a second set of -supporting elements in cooperative position to receivethe succeeding pallets. This procedure is continued until the elevator is full and in upper position. Thereafter a truck of novel form is brought into cooperation with the elevator and by an elevating 'of of certain elements of the truck of allets are lifted clear oi their supporting ra' s orming apart of the elevator and transferred to the truck. driven away and the loads of pallets are chain. AThis chain ad- When a certain number of pallets are I the rows are The .truck is then deposited upon the drying racks by a lowering of the pallet-supporting elements which orm a part of the truck. The elevator now is caused to descend to such position as to receive a new charge of pallets.

The objects of the present invention re- 30 means forraising and controlling the elevator, the means or feeding the pallets to the elevator, the means for aligning the truck with respect to various subsidiar control devices. Furthe elevator and the ther objects and a vantages will be set fort-h Q in detail in the accompanying specification and shown in the drawings in which:

Fig. l shows a side elevation of the machine with the elevator empty and ready to receive uncured bricks.

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of the manual erator and certain details oi the stop devices.

Fig.- 3 shows an enlarged view of the con- -veyor and a portion of the elevator.

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view taken on line- -i-i of Fig. a

Fig. 5 shows a detail 'conveyor pallet moving pawls.

Fig..6 is a top plan view of the conveyor control devices operated by the op\.

ioo

view of one'of the elements elevated and supporting t lets.

and a sectional view of the elevator. -This figure also 'shows the truck pallet suporting'. elements prior to being projecte into the elevator. Fig. 7 shows an enlarged view ofthe driving mechanism of the machine.

Fi 8, '9, 10 and 11 are detail views of 'the means for controlling the intermittent lifting of the elevator.

the elevator lifting means and the control ap aratus. Fig. 13 shows a Fig. 14 is a side view of the elevator brake and-relieving gear (the latter being shown in normal osition).

-Fi 15 sh plete y loaded position andthe truck in position to back into place to remove 'the bricks therefrom.

l Fig. 16 shows the truck in position on'l the elevator and ready to have its pallet supporting elements elevated to lift the pallets clear from their support by the elevator.. Fig. 17 shows the-truck pallet supporting Figs. 18 and of the truck-aligning devices.

Figs. 20 and 21 show the steering aligning i' devices for the'truok.

, Fi'g. 22sihows the steering gear for the truck.

Fig. 23 shows the relation of the elevator pallet supporting elements, the truck pallet supporting elements and the pallets with l the truck pallet supporting elements .in'positin prior toulifting the pallets.

Fig. 24 shows the same parts with the truck pallet su porting elements lifted so "as to support t e pallets clear A'of the supporting e ements carried by the elevator. '.Fig. 25 shows a detail view of the-relieving gear for the elevator drive shaft gear andrraclf.

'.i the' drawings f'The brick-forming machine is shown diaanmatically at (Fig. :31). This mac in is driven .in any suitab e manner as by belt which, by means of a pulley, drives -a conelclutch member 31 (Fig. 2). An air cylindg32 is adapted to enage and disen.v

gage a' cone clutch 33 and e ectvrotation of a @haft 34d "carrying gearing which drives t "forming machine and also drives a drive' shaft 35 which drives the handling machine.

-upon pallets 36, '(Fig.- 3).

' 'lllfbricls 35 (Fig. 3) are formed in the forming machine '30 and emerge therefrom A short distance from the exit end of the f forming machine' is a structure which will be termed thel storage vater is h37 (see 6)"yvhich form the ramework elevatori. This elerovided with vertical ide rails Fig. '12 shows a central sectional view-of 'side view of the* same parts shown in Fig. 12.

ows the elevator in. upper come pal-' :19 show topand side views of the elevator supporting structure'. Guide members 38 are vertically slidable in the guide rails 37 and to these members 38 are olted vertical angles 39. These vertical angles have fastened -theretol a series of pairs of superimposed"angles 40. vThese angles form supporting elements forA the pallets 36 and willhereafter be termed elevator pallet supporting .elements These 'i elements form a rack-.which receives the pal`- lets from the brick-*forming machine and stores them in4 superimposed relation. The angles 39 are joined together at the top by a cross frame 41 which has a cable 42 attached to 'it leadin over a pulle and connected to a suta le counterba ance (not shown).

Between the elevator pallet supporting elements there is considerable clear space as best shown in Fig. 4. This space provides room for a conveyor which is adaptedY to carry the pallets from the forming machine to the elevator. This conveyor will now be described.' Horizontal frames 43 are 'suitably supported with one endprojecting into the elevator andthe other-end extends ad' jacent the exit end ofthe forming machine ('see Fig. 3). The angles 44 forming a part of this fra-me are provided with a series of rollers 44L which support the pallets 36.

.Suitable sprocketsV 45 and 46 are mounted in .the frame and over these sprockets run par- -alle l chains 47. These chains are advanced elevated up above the'top of the chains but permit the pawls to 'swing back and pass under the pallets under certain conditions. The pallets are advanced from the forming machine onto the rolls 44. Thereafter the paWl lingers which have been swung upwardly above the conveyor chain by the counterweights aided by a spring 55"L (shown in Ffig. 5) come into contact with the rear walls o a 44. uring the preliminary advance of the pallets over the conveyor outside the elevator i the pawls are prevented from swinging anticloc wise by a rail 55". 'The advance of the pallet continues until it is arrested either by contact with a stop 55 or by contactwith the pallet just ahead of it (see Fig. 3). When the forward movement of the pallet is arrested the pawl fingers now clear of rail 55b swing down and pass 'idly under the rocket 51 and chain 52. At intervals the allet and advance the same over rolls lower faces of the pallet or pallets. The conveyor just described is adapted to bring the pallcts'into a position to be supported by the elevator pallet supportn elements upon the ascent of the elevator. Vith the construction disclosed the elements are of suicient size to carry'ive pallets. After these five pallets have beenbrought into position over the elevator supporting elements the elevator must be raised to present the next lower pair of supporting elements in cooperative rela-- tion with the conveyor 'and the upward movement of the elevator must be eiected during the period of advance of a pallet over that portion of the conveyor which is out- .side the elevator.

i Elevator'lzftng mechanism.

The frame members 39 of the elevator are fastened at their lower ends to a crossmemadjustment of the racks and inions Vthe backs of the I- tating the shaft 66 intermittently. In theseA '45 beams are backed y adjustable wedge blocks 61 carried by brackets 61* (s ee Fig. 14).

Shaft 60 is mounted in suitable bearings and connects by a spline connection with one element of a jaw clutch 62. The other element Iof the clutchA is fixed upon a short shaft 63 which carries a gear 64 meshing witha gear 65 .upon shaft 66. By the periodic rotation of shaft 66 the elevator will be elevated step by step. In order to'rotate this shaft 66 the following mechanism is provided. Referring to Fig. 7, shaft 50 carries a gear 67 meshing withgear 68 and rotating crank arm 69. The rotation of this crank 1s continuous so long as the brickforming machine is in operation. Crank 69 is connected to a connecting rod 70 and is adapted to reciprocate said rod. (See Figs. 1, 8 'and 9.)

Figs. 8 to 13show the mechanism for roiures 71 is a ratchet disc rotatably mounte upon shaft 66, and 72 and 73 are.ratchet discs which are splined to the shaft 66 so as to rotate the same. All .of the ratchet vvheels are provided with tive teeth, corresponding with the. number of pallets carried on each of the elevator palletsupporting members.

An arm 75 is rotatably mounted upon shaft '66 and is connected to the connecting rod 70 so as to be rocked up and down upon the reciproeation of the connecting rod. The arm 75`carries springfpressed pawl 74 which 'is'` adapted to advance theV ratchet wheel 71 one step each time the connecting Yrod is elevated. A suitable spring-pressed retaining pawl 7 6 prevents retrograde movement of ratchet wheel 71. A stud 77 carried by wheel 71 forms a pivot for a pawl 78 which overlies ratchet wheel 73. Pawl 78 tends to -d rop into engagement with ratchet 73 whenvabove theiratchet and drops out by gravity when below the center. Dui i ing the forward rotationof ratchet 71 from the position shownin Fig. 10 this pawl remains out of engagement with the ratchet 73 -until such time as a blade 79 carriedby the pawl 7 8 comes into contact `with a cam 80. This cam ment with'a tooth of ratchet 7 3 and advances the ratchet one step upon the next elevation of the connecting rod 70. To free the pawl from the `ratchet andA to prevent its re-engagement upon the next forward movement of wheel 71 an arm 81, is employed which is fastened to rock arm 75 and which has an end extending 'over the tail ofthe pawl 78.-

Fig. 10` shows the pawl 78 held out by means of -arm 8 1 and Fig. 11 shows the pawl in in position i gaged by the arm. The ratchet 73 being keyed to shaft 66 is adapted to advance the shaft 66 one step for each five steps'of advance of the wheel 71. Ratchet 72 is provided With a retaining pawl 82 which prevents retrograde movement of shaft 66. The mechanism just described is adapted to elevate the elevator one step after'the pallet supporting elements have received their complete load 'of pallets.

The operation of loading the elevator continues'until all the pallet supporting elements have received a load and the elevator has attained its extreme elevated position.

prior to -being dischforces the pawl into engage- Means are provided for then stopping the dit-ional pallets.

Automatic stop.

Fastened to shaft 5 0 (Fig. 7) is a gear 83 which meshes with a gear 84 carried on a shaft 85 leading to the control devices contained within case 86. Figure 2 shows somewith -diagramatically .an embodiment of these devices. The shaft 85 carries a Worm 87 which turns 'a Worm wheel 88. This wheel is provided with a recess 89 that comes into alignment with a plunger 90 when the elevator is completely loaded. Upon attaining such alignment a counterweight 90 acting through abell crank 91 forces the plunger into the recess 89 and draws control rod 92 to the left. This con- .trol rod through a suitable linkage swings is discharged and in position toreceive ad- 'rently connect the pipe to which air is' not being admitted to ex aust -pi pe 97. When Y .lever 93 is drawn to the -left the clutch is disen aged and the -entire machine is broug t toa standstill.

Elm@ unloading datan.

l With the elevator full of pallets and in upper position, the machine 1s brought automatically to a stop.' With the elevator in this position an elevator base plate 100 is brought into alignmentwith the floor of the room so that a truck 101 can be bac d onto The truck plgpbr is 1n many respects similar to 'thewell-known industrial storage battery trucks now on the market. It is, however,

necessary to' align the truck accurately 'with the elevator before it can be backed in place and remove the pallets therefrom. The

truck is of the four-wheel steer type being normally steered by means of -lever 102 (Fig. 22), which connects in the lusual manner 5- through a reach rod 103 (Fig. 18) to the 2 rear steerin control system 104 ahdto the front whee controls 105. To align the steering control linkage. The arran ementdescribed provides means for ra id y and accurately aligning the truck wit the elevater thereby eliminating time-consuming delays.- The-frontend rear -control systems and guiding rollers beiifg Alinked together, the most unskilled operator can rapidly back a truck into accurate position on the elevator (see-Fig. 16). The front rollers 109 control the steering after the rear rolls 107 have passed beyond the ends of the rails and the rear rollers effect the control when the front boilers are beyond the rails.

plurality of ang e-shaped members l110 which are fastened to an upright, 111 and project rearwardly therefrom. -Theseaugles will hereinafter be termed truck pallet supporting elements. The upright 111 is fastened to a base member 112 which is ad ted to be moved longitudinally rela'f tive y to the truck frame by means of a handle 1 13 which, through gearing 114 (see Fig. 16)'connects with screws 115 ada ted upon rotation to draw the base 112 and to cause the same to be elevated by camming 4edges 110 riding up the rollers .117. In this bricks.A Suitable aligning'- rails v voul sition truck properly a pair of guide-rails 106 areo 12138- f which. through a the `usual chassis and drive yarts-is provi ed with wise andmanner by the manipulation. o f the handle 113 the pallet supporting elements may. b simultaneously elevated or lowered. After the truck is 'in position as shown in Fig.

16, the handle-113 is turned to elevate the. truck pallet supporting elements 110 see Fig. 17). With-the truck pallet su porting? ave .as-

elements -in lifted osition they sumed the position s own in Fig. 24. `With the parts in this ition the pallets 36 are all concurrently lifted clear of the elevator pallet supporting elements, and stop 55, and

are supported upon the angles 110. The

truck can now be driven. awa therebycl'ear'- ing the elevator ,of its loa The pallets carried by .the truck are deposited upon suitable racks in thedry' but would be .of such size-esto permit the 'storage of a large number of palletsdarlig provided adjacent thestorage racks.

- ith the elevator 1n upper empty it must now be' returnedt lower po m'g` room 'by rotatinghandle 113 in reverse direction.' 'Bhe stacks. would be similar in design to'the elevator beready to-receive additional pal- The lowering of the'- elevatorfshould position and I beeiected without disturbing the vtiming of the lifting mechanism and without shock or 'ar to the elevator. j

he lowering of the elevator 1s effected by declutching shaft 60 from shaft .63 by cl tch 62 and concurrentlyap lying a brake 0 to shaft 60. Prior to 1sengag1ng-the-jaw c lutch 62 the driving strain must be relieved from shaft 60. This is effected by the following mechanism: Mounted upon the oploo eratingpulpit 12l1n({Fig 2) is a lever 122 4`124 is adapted to roc a shaft 1 25, which ge 123 connects with a-crank arm 124 (Fi 12 andl). Armshaft is supported to roll u on plates 1 26 .A

byprollers 127. The shaft a carries pmions 128 which mesh with 'racks 129 sol as to cause the shaft to travel upon. rotation thereof. The traveling shaft. is also provided with lifting 'cams 130 which are Abrought under the ends ofthe racks l58I during'the travel of the shaft and thereafter slightly elevate the racks 59 so--as to relieve the toothl pressure 'against 4the vilnions 59 is action f and between gears 64 and- 65.-' ofthe parts is clearly shown in Figs. 14 and 25, the former-showing initial normal-peg sition and the latter showing 'driving strain relieved with lever 122 displaced.- After' the driving strain is relieved from the gearin' the pressure between the 'aws of the clutch 62 1s relieved so -that t e clutch can be readily disengaged. The' operator'holds lever 122 displaced (by. a suitable Vlatch or by. fprward lever 131^(Fig.

hand) and draws 2) which through a` inkage 132 (Figs. 2 and 12) rocks an arm 133 carried on. shaft 134. This `shaft through the bevel .135

rocks a. cross shaft 136 and disengages the clutch 62. Simultaneously the brake 120 is applied to the drum 137 by the linkage 12()a best shown in Fig. 14. The elevator is now released. from .the lifting gear and under control ofthe' brake 120. The lever 122I is then returned to normal position thereby 'clearing the cams'130 from the path of the j proper time relation for a new cycle and the 'operator starts up the machine by swinging air valve lever 93 to the right. 'This applies the air to the cylinder 32 so as to re-engage the main clutch Y; The operator after swinging the air v? 've to on position must hold the valve in su`ch position to permit the automatic stop mechanism to be displaced suiciently to prevent the immediate restopping of the machine. When the lever 93 is moved to on position counterweight 90a is lifted so as to `provide clearance for the bell crank.91.l`he plunger 90 being in the re' cess 89 nt' be retracted before the Worm wheel 88 moves appreciably. This is effect.

ed :by means offra spring 140 which presses outwardly upii the head 141 of the plunger and also presses upon a base block 142 carried by a pin 143. The pin extends through slots in the plunger wall' and is secured in a fixed guide 144. It will therefore be apparent that as soon as the counterweight 90'l 'is elevated, the spring 140 (already under compression) will extend and retract the plunger 90 from the recess. After the Worm Wheel 88 has turned slightly the plunger no longer is in alignment with the .recess and the operator can release handle .93. This handle Willremain in on position until the elevator is again full and the automatic stop is brought into action. AThe main control valve 93 `can also be used for purposes ofan automatic stop in cases of accident and such use will not in any way disturb the timthe machines under his control.

ing for subsequent operations.

ln the foregoing specification one machine .-z'nly has been described. lt will be understood, however, that in practice a number of n". '.chines may be used. In multiple machine installations of this sort the opcrators pulpit or platform is preferably elevated above the floor level so that the operator can observe the operation and loading status of all The operatingcontrol levers and valves of the different nmchines may be conveniently located upon this platform so as to be accessible to a single operator. Bf rfill be understood that 'the different machines are automatically brought to a stop ywhen the storage elevators are loaded and it is only necessary for the operl atorto observe that the unloading truck has been driven away from a particular machine,

to know that this machine is ready to be restarted. As a check upon the condition of the storage elevator it may be ldesirable to prdvide an electric light upon the operators platform which will be illuminated to im dicate that the elevator of a particular machine is within one step of being loaded.

This light is in effect a safety indicator and indicates to the operator that the machine should be stopped by hand in case the automatic stop fails for any reason.

The light is indicated at 145. in Eig. 2. The current from .the source is preferably controlled' b a Contact device 146 (see Figs.

1 and 2), a apted to be operated by the ele-- vator when the latter is within one step of the top ofits travel. The light is. extinguished automatically upon the descent of the elevator. y

.Various other. indicating lights may be provided, for example a light might be provided on the operators platform to show that a truck was upon tlie elevator. control for this light would be similar. to the light previously described, except that the contact device would be controlled by the truck in moving to and off the elevator.

-; The method of handling the. pallets as set forth in this application is .not herein claimed. The novel method will form the subjectmatter of a separate application.

What we claim is 1. In a machine adapted to handle the The output of a forming machine, in combination, a storage elevator. a continuous con'- veyor leading from the form-ing machine to the elevator, means for automatically intermittently adjusting the position of the ele- -vator with respect to the conveyor to permit the storage of the pallets received from the forming machine in superimposed relation upon the-elevator, and means for removing the superimposed pallets from the elevator.

2. In a 'machine adapted to handle the output o'f a forming machine, in combina'- tion, a storage elevator adapted to support pallets in superimposed relation thereon, said elevator being mounted for a vertical up and down movement in an elevator shaft, a conveyor leading from the forming machine to the elevator for conveying the pal-v lets thereto, means or intermittently raising the elevator to permit the storage of pallets in superimposed relation thereon, and means for simultaneously removing all of the pallets from the loaded storage elevator. 3. In a machine of the class described adapted to handle the output of a forming -machine, in combination, a storage elevator,

a conveyor leading from theforming ma-- chine to the elevator, means for automatically intermittently raising the elevator to permit the stora e of pallets received from the forming mac ine in superimposed relation thereon, and means for withdrawin the pallets from the loaded elevator, ca i means com risin means for first elevating the pallets rom t eir positionof support by 1'0 the elevator and means for thereafter horil tion thereon, means for discharging-the eles' vatorwhenthe same is raised, said means comprising a truck for withdrawing the -pallets from the elevator, means for aligning the truck with the elevator, and'means for lowering the entire elevator after the same has been discharged.

6. In a handling machine, in combination,

a storage elevator havin a plurality of superimposed pairs of pal et supporting ele-v ments, a conveyor adapted todeliver a series of pallets over a air of said pallet supporting elements, an means for raising the ele vatorto present successive pairs of said pallet supporting eleinents in cooperative relation with the conveyor, said means bein operable upon a predetermined number o pallets being conveyed into position over. the

pallet supporting elements.

. 7. In a machine ofthe class described, in combination, an elevator, a plurality of pallet supporting elements thereon, means for advancing the article supporting pallets over said elements, means for raisingthe elevator after a predetermined number of pallets-are in position over said supporting elements, to thereby bring additional pallet-supporting elements into position to receive pallets,- means for concurrently withdrawing all of said pallets from theelevator, and means for thereafter lowering the elevator.

8. In a machine adapted to handle articles from a continuously operating vforming machine, in combination, an' elevator having 4a plurality of-superimposed pallet supporting elements thereon adapted to intermittently ascend, means for advancing pallets from the forming machine to a'position to vbejsupported by the pallet supporting elements 'carried by the elevator, means for stopping the operation o the machine when the eleva. tor is loaded and in upper position, means-for simultaneously removing all of the pallets 5 from the elevator, and means for thereater lowering the elevator and for" restarting thev machine. ".ll A .9.In a handling machine adapted to relv` deive pallets from a forming machine, means for driving the forming machine from a 'I9 power source, a storage elevator adapted to store' 'pallets in superim sed relation` thereon, means' for delivering the. pallets from the Yforming machine to the elevator,

said means being driven in unisonl with the forming machine, means driven in timed relation with the formingmachine and said ,delivery means for intermittentlyv raising the elevator to permit the storage of pallets insuperimposed relation thereon, and means 3 `for automatically stopping the operation of the forming machine, the` delivery'means.

and said raising means when the elevator is completely loaded. v

' 10. In a mach' e of the class described, in85 combination, a power-driven conveyor, a power-driven 'intermittently ascending stor. age elevator adapted to receive articles'from the conveyor, said ascending 'movementsof -said elevator being timed with relation' to 9 the delivery of articles by the conveyor, means for stop ing the conveyor andthe raisin Aof the e evator when the elevatorsis loade and means for disconnecting thej'ele-i` vator to permit the same to descend andi il .95 recouplin the elevator after the desceiitfs complete in proper time relation with t e conveyor.

0 .11. In'a machine of the. class described, in combination, a power-driven' conveyor 10 a power-driven intermittently ascedmg storage elevator adapted to receive a icles 4from the conveyor, said ascending movements of said elevator being ti'med'with relation to the delivery ofarticles by the -conveyor, means forstopping the conveyor and ,the raising of the elevator when the elevator f is loaded, means fordisconnecting the elevatorv to permit the same to descend and for iecou ling the elevator after the descentisno comp eted, in proper time relation with the conveyor, and means for restarting the conv eyor and -for r'e-establishing the'intermittently ascending movement ofthe elevator;

12. Ina machine of the class described,.in combination, a power-driven conveyor, a power-driven intermittentlyascending st or' age elevator adapted to receive articles from the conveyor, said' ascending movements of' said elevator'` being timed with relation to 12 the deliveryof articles by the conveyor, i

means for. stopping the conveyor and theraising of the elevator when the elevator is loaded, means for disconnecting the elevator 12' to permit the same to' descend and' for iiecou- 5 pling the elevator after the descent is'coinpleted, in proper time relation with -tlie conveyor, and means for applying a brake tol control the speed of descent of the elevator.

13. In an article-handling machine adapted vatoi' adapted to receive thel pallets delivered by the forming machine, means for intermittently raising the elevator, said means comprising mechanism to time the ascent anddwellof the elevator in accordance with the time of delivery of the pallets said means including a clutch and connections between said mechanism and the elevator, and means for disconnecting said clutch to permit thev descent of the elevator whereby the same timing relations are secured upon the re-engagcment of the clutch `after the .elevator has descended.

14. In an article-handling plant, a storage means for the product, a platform for a truck, a truck, steering means upon said truck to4 adjust the wheels thereof, said truck being adapted to handle'the product carried by said storage means, and' means associated with said platform and cooperating with the steering means upon said truck for aligning the truck with said storage means.

15. In a truck for the purposedescribed in combination, a chassis, a steering control therefor and guide' rollers carried by said steering control adapted to cooperate with fixed guide-rails for aligning the truck in a prei'leternnned position. l

16. In a. machine adapted to handle the products of a forming machine, in combination, a storage elevator, havingsuperim- .posed supporting elements adapted to receive the articles p roduced by the forming machine, a' conveyor leading from the forming machine to the elevator, and means operating autol'naticallyl when the elevator' has `received a certain 'charge of articles from .the conveyor, for adjusting the position of the elevator with respect to the conveyor to permit the storage of larticles received from the forming machine in superimposed relation upon the elevator.

17. In amachine adapted to'handle the product of a forming machine, a storage elevator adapted to store a plurality` of the articles produced by the forming machine in superimposed relation thereon, a conveyor leading from the forming machine to the elevator for delivering the articles in cooperative position therewith, means'operating in timed relation with the delivery of the articles by the conveyor `for adjusting the vertical position of the elevator with respect to the conveyor whereby tle articles delivered are stored in a superimposed manner upon the elevator' and means/for unloading the elevator. j A

18.A storage elevator having provision for storing .articles in superimposed relation thereon, means for intermittently adjusting the vertical position of the elevator to permit the aforesaid superimposed storage of articles, and means for automatically" discontinuing said adjusting of' the elevator when it is completely loaded.

19. A storage elevator yhaving provisions for storing articles in superimposed relation, thereon, means for intermittently adjusting the vertical position of the elevator to permit the aforesaid storage of articles, means for automatically discontinuing said adjusting 'when the elevator is completely loaded, means for simultaneously unloading and removing all of the articles from the elevator, and means for thereafter positioning the elevator so it may receive additional articles.

It testimony whereof we hereunto aiiix our signatures.

FREDERICK A. SCHROEDER. HERMAN R. SMITH. 

